Question OnQ Box Help

[Junum]

This box is on the 3rd floor of our condo built 3 years ago. We have Ethernet jacks in just about every room and I would like to start using them.

Can anyone help me understand what is going on in this box with the Cat5e lines? It looks like you have a “from telecom” line on the far left on white box and a “line in” on the lower right on black box. You can also see wireS between the boxes connecting them. Then there’s the gray wire coming off the black box.

Currently we have an Xfinity modem/ router on our 2nd floor that provides pretty good WiFi to the entire house and I would like to leave it there. It is next to an ethernet wall outlet. I am thinking I can do an ethernet cable as output from the Xfinity box to the wall, figure out which wire that is coming into the OnQ box, plug it into a switch input, figure out which lines are going from the OnQ box to the various rooms and plug them into the switch outputs. Would that work?

 

[ch33zw1z]

Ok, I'll start with the good news.

1. You're correct in how you should get connectivity from the gateway to the onq box

2. It's cat 5e cabling. Although I can't tell if it's patch cabling or riser cabling. Patch cable should have rj45 heads crimped onto it, riser cable should be punched into keystone's.

"Bad" news - the leg work

The two devices the cables are punched into currently appear to be for phone.

If it were my setup, I would toss those and redo it based on what cabling type it is.

If it's patch cables, out rj 45 heads on them and plug directly into a switch.

If it's solid (aka riser) cables, keystone's/patch panel, then patch cables to a switch.

When rewiring, you'll also need to figure out which Jack it is in the house and inspect it. This is to figure out what cabling pinouts were used at the Jack's around the house. It's important to match the pinout back in the onq box. Also, make sure the Jack's are rj45's

It doesnt appear any of the cables are marked to say where they go. Maybe they are with closer inspection.

Redoing stuff like this is often time consuming. It's important to document what you do to save you time later on. Document each jack you inspect, label each cable when you figure out where it goes, etc...

Tools needed:
Flat heat screwdriver for wall plates, pencil and notepad for documentation, some type of labeling(I usually just use white electrical tape and write on it with sharpie),

Maybe you'll need, depending on cabling
-Tone generator to figure out where drops go
-rj45 heads and crimper
-keystones and punch down tool
-wire cutters

 

[Junum]

Ok, I'll start with the good news.

1. You're correct in how you should get connectivity from the gateway to the onq box

2. It's cat 5e cabling. Although I can't tell if it's patch cabling or riser cabling. Patch cable should have rj45 heads crimped onto it, riser cable should be punched into keystone's.

"Bad" news - the leg work

The two devices the cables are punched into currently appear to be for phone.

If it were my setup, I would toss those and redo it based on what cabling type it is.

If it's patch cables, out rj 45 heads on them and plug directly into a switch.

If it's solid (aka riser) cables, keystone's/patch panel, then patch cables to a switch.

When rewiring, you'll also need to figure out which Jack it is in the house and inspect it. This is to figure out what cabling pinouts were used at the Jack's around the house. It's important to match the pinout back in the onq box. Also, make sure the Jack's are rj45's

It doesnt appear any of the cables are marked to say where they go. Maybe they are with closer inspection.

Redoing stuff like this is often time consuming. It's important to document what you do to save you time later on. Document each jack you inspect, label each cable when you figure out where it goes, etc...

Tools needed:
Flat heat screwdriver for wall plates, pencil and notepad for documentation, some type of labeling(I usually just use white electrical tape and write on it with sharpie),

Maybe you'll need, depending on cabling
-Tone generator to figure out where drops go
-rj45 heads and crimper
-keystones and punch down tool
-wire cutters

Thanks! Pinouts were not something I had heard of before but I think I get it. The connections in the box appear to just go bBoOgGbrBR from bottom to top and right to left. That’s not a standard Pinout is it? The patch I’m looking at has a T-568A configuration so I just need to make sure the wall jack is the same?

 

[ch33zw1z]

Thanks! Pinouts were not something I had heard of before but I think I get it. The connections in the box appear to just go bBoOgGbrBR from bottom to top and right to left. That’s not a standard Pinout is it? The patch I’m looking at has a T-568A configuration so I just need to make sure the wall jack is the same?

568a vs 568b at DuckDuckGo

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Yes, match the pinouts on both end. However, if the Jack's are already wired for 568b, just use that instead of redoing all the Jack's.

Panels like the current ones aren't following network cabling standards.

If you're looking at a patch panel, then the current cabling is solid aka "riser" cable?